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"Secular Summit" Held At Statehouse

A group that advocates for a clear separation of church and state met at the Statehouse this week to train its members on how to be more involved in public policy. Ohio Public Radio's Andy Chow reports.

Monette Richards—president of the Center for Inquiry’s northeast Ohio chapter—says there are too many bills trying to add religion into state laws.  
 
She used last year’s proposed changes to abortion rights and religious expression at schools as examples.  
 
Richards says the fight to keep laws secular while encouraging the use of science and reason in creating policy helps everyone—even people of faith.  
 
Richards: “And there are a lot of people think that it’s a zero-sum game—that if we are having secular laws then religion is losing out and that’s not the case. Their religion is even more protected when we keep the laws secular.”  
 
The group is supporting a bill that would allow anyone to conduct marriages without the need for a government or religious affiliation.

Jim has been with WCBE since 1996. Before that he worked as a reporter at another Columbus radio station, and for three newspapers in Southwest Florida.
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